Serpent's Princess
by Princess Mariana
Summary: Charolette and Tom are both related to Salazar Slytherin's ancestor. Charelotte meets Tom at Hogwarts and he becomes interested in her knowledge. Is that really all that he wants? HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Guess what?! I don't own the Harry Potter series! No one would ever guess! (Sarcasm) Contains spoilers (obviously, since it's about Tom Riddle and he isn't known until the second book). Read the books before reading this; it will probably help. (Especially read the second book!)**

"May I have your attention?" Professor Dippet shouted over the din at dinner on Halloween night. Everyone instantly quieted and looked at him. "Thank you," he said, more softly. "We have a new student who will be joining us. She is a transfer student and I expect you to be nice to her." The headmaster than nodded to Professor Dumbledore, who stood up, waved his wand, and a girl entered the Great Hall from the big doors. She walked up the aisle towards the teachers. Everyone had their eyes fixed on her carefully, but she gave them no heed.

The girl had dark brown hair put in a tightly bound chignon (bun). Her brown eyes were hard and guarded. She wore the school's uniform.

When she reached the teachers' table, she stopped. Dumbledore waved his wand and a stool with the sorting hat on it appeared. Untold, she seemed to already know what to do. Striding over to it, she put on the hat and sat down. "Hmm…" the hat said in her head, "You are brave enough to be in Gryffindor, but not friendly enough, or open…no, not Gryffindor…You're smart enough for Ravenclaw…but that doesn't fit. Cleverness isn't your skill…" It went on for almost five minutes before it said, "You're smart and determined enough to be in Slytherin. Your ancestry reeks of Slytherin. You might not fit in…but were would you fit in…SLYTHERIN!" the hat finally decided.

No emotion donned her face as she walked to the Slytherin table. The new Slytherin was greeted by thundering applause from the other Slytherins. The girl sat down next to some girls who looked at her curiously. Professor Dippet told everyone to continue eating.

"Hi!" one of the girls greeted her. "I'm Alice Tericon."

"Nice to meet you," the new girl said politely, but barely smiled, "I'm Charlotte Wonder."

The other girls also introduced themselves and Charlotte examined them. Alice was a blonde with bright green eyes; Mary Corner, a brunette with blue eyes; Caroline Black, a redhead with blue eyes. They were all fourth years, like Charlotte.

After dinner, in her room that she shared with Alice and her group, Charlotte finished her catch up work. Alice was told by a Slytherin to get Charlotte to come out and meet everyone. Alice quickly dragged Charlotte to the common room. When she came down, everyone crowed around Charlotte who did not like the popularity. Finally after not giving any straight answers other than her name, Charlotte escaped to her dormitory.

The next day was a Sunday and Charlotte thought it the perfect day to explore the castle with the map her brother had given her on parting. After walking around the castle, Charlotte decided to go outside and read a book she had found in the library.

When she reached the grounds, she found a shady tree to sit under and read her book. Eyes followed her, but she ignored them. After Charlotte had been reading for about an hour, someone said politely, "Excuse me."

Charlotte slowly closed her book and stood up. "Yes?" she replied slowly.

A short girl with cropped red hair and fierce green eyes smiled at Charlotte. "Hi! I'm Amelia. I'm a fifth year in Hufflepuff," the girl chirped, offering a hand.

"Nice to meet you," Charlotte shook the hand, "I'm Charlotte."

"Is this mudblood bothering you, Charlotte?" someone sneered.

Caroline Black walked over to Amelia and Charlotte. "Whoever do you mean?"

Caroline snickered and shoved Amelia a little, "This one."

Charlotte cocked her head, "Back home calling someone a 'mudblood' meant that they were squibs, not muggle-borns." There was a pause before Charlotte added, "But Amelia wasn't bothering me. All she did was introducing herself, as so many others have."

Caroline couldn't think of a reproach, so all she said was, "Oh." And she left the two. "Are you alright? I'm sorry for her behavior," Charlotte apologized politely.

But Amelia wasn't listening. She had a triumphant and happy expression on her face. "I knew it!" she cried, "I knew you weren't a snobby, mean, evil Slytherin! The hat would've placed you quicker if you were! I'm so happy!" The excited girl grabbed Charlotte hand and dragged her over to a group of students who had been watching Charlotte.

"I told you so!" Amelia gloated to her friends, "I told you she was nice."

"For once," a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes said darkly, "you were right, Amelia."

She whacked the speaker on the shoulder, then introduced him to Charlotte, "This," she gestured to the one she had just hit, "is Erick. He is a real nuisance and very intelligent. He's a sixth year Gryffindor."

"I'm John," a tall, black-haired, green-eyed boy said, "I'm a third year in Ravenclaw."

The rest also introduced themselves. There was Carey, Jenny, Philip, Terence, William, and Hannah. Carey and Jenny were sisters. They both had very short, blond hair and green eyes. Like Amelia, they had an outgoing manner. Jenny was a first year Ravenclaw, where Carey was a Gryffindor second year.

Philip was a short, black-haired, blue-eyed Hufflepuff fourth year. His mum was a muggle and his dad was a wizard.

Terrence was Amelia's first year, Gryffindor, brother, but they didn't look the same. Instead of red hair, he had brown hair and instead of bright green eyes, his eyes were a dulled green color. Terrence's skin was a lot darker that Amelia's, too.

William and Hannah were both seventh year Hufflepuffs and they were dating. William had brown hair and Hannah had shoulder length black hair. There green eyes almost matched perfectly. Since they were the oldest of the group, the two towered over everyone.

The group of eight welcomed Charlotte, but kept their distance because they noticed that she wasn't very open with anyone. When Charlotte was in one of their classes, she usually sat by one of them, but besides that, she was separate from them.

Even though Charlotte's roommates were shocked by her small friendship, they still were her friends. But, again, not close friends. The biggest involvement she had with the Slytherin girls was sitting at lunch with them.

No one knew much about Charlotte because if someone asked her, she wouldn't give a straight answer. For example, a Slytherin boy asked Charlotte, "Is your old home far away from here?"

Charlotte shook her head and replied evenly, "Not if you have a wand, otherwise, you could travel your whole life away trying to find it."

After a lot of questions like this one were answered in this manner, many gave up. And so November passed quickly without incident.

One day in early December, Professor Slughorn, the potions master, paired Charlotte up with someone she hadn't ever spoken to before: Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle was a handsome, black haired, Slytherin, popular, fourth year. He was the perfect Slytherin and student. All the students loved him and almost all the girls in the school were in love with him. He faintly reminded Charlotte of someone she had heard about, but she couldn't remember.

The two worked well together, if almost inaudibly. They would take turns doing different things. First, Charlotte would prepare and give Tom the ingredients. Tom would then put the ingredients into the potion and be in charge of the actually potion making; every once in awhile they would switch.

It was a good system and Professor Slughorn exclaimed that their potion was the best in the class. At the end of the class, Professor Slughorn told the class to write two essays: one on remembering potions and the other on forgetting potions. "Remember," the professor reminded the students, "you will only be writing one essay each, but work together on both essays."

The two Slytherins planned to work on the essays at the library the following day, which was a Saturday.

The next day Charlotte woke up about five in the morning to go to the library. She knew that Tom probably wouldn't be there that early, but she wanted to research something other than the potions. At the library, the librarian was already there. "Excuse me," Charlotte said to her, "I'm looking for books on the Chamber of Secrets."

The librarian looked at Charlotte, "Interesting topic. Try looking in the section about Salazar Slytherin." The librarian pointed to a book shelf. "Thank you," Charlotte said as she headed to that section.

A few hours later, when Charlotte was in the middle of an old looking book, someone said, "You're here early."

Charlotte looked up to see Tom Riddle looking at her. "I wanted to do some research on something else."

Tom sat down across from her, "What subject?"

"The Chamber of Secrets," she replied, "It's really fascinating."

Tom's eyebrows rose, "How did you find out about it?"

Charlotte looked carefully at him for a second before answering, "One of my ancestors founded my old school. His great-great-great-great-great-grandson was Salazar Slytherin. The Chamber of Secrets is an old legend in my family."

Tom nodded, trying to look uninterested, but Charlotte caught an interested gleam in his eye. Charlotte caught Tom looking at her that way a lot as they wrote the essays.

The next day was really strange for Charlotte. When she was trying to decipher a book about the Chamber of Secrets under a tree on the grounds, Tom Riddle approached her. "Charlotte," he said. She stood up and he continued, "Do you know where the Chamber of Secrets is located?"

"Yes, Riddle, but I will not tell you unless you tell me why you want to know," she evenly said, looking in his eyes.

He hesitated and Charlotte saw red glimmer in his eyes for less than a second. "Oh, glory," she gasped, and put her hand on the tree they were standing under to support herself, "I should've seen it before."

Tom looked at her curiously. Charlotte finally calmed down and told Tom, "Follow me."

He obliged and she walked out to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Charlotte asked him in a lowered voice, "Can you speak parseltongue?" Except she hadn't said it in English; she had said it in a hiss. "Yes," Tom said in parseltongue back.

"Than you are the heir of Salazar Slytherin," Charlotte said, still speaking in parseltongue, "The Chamber of Secrets is in a girl's bathroom somewhere in the castle. The one were the faucets don't work. Find the sink with a snake engraved in on it and say 'open' in this tongue. There are many other entrances, but I don't know them yet."

"Thanks," Tom hissed back. He was about to ask a question, but Charlotte hurried away. Tom smiled; he had just found something more fascinating than the Chamber of Secrets. Something that seemed to…_respect_ and _fear _him.

For the next few weeks, Charlotte's friends notice that she was quieter and more careful than usually. She was almost scared, but her friends didn't think that possible. Tom noticed this, too, with interest.

Tom tried to seek Charlotte out to find things out, but she usually managed to avoid him, until, finally, two weeks before Christmas break, he caught her under a tree where she was reading, despite the cold and snow. "Charlotte, can I have a word?" he asked politely.

She snapped the book closed and stood up. "Alright," she replied weakly.

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

"Because of your questions, but now that you've caught me, ask away," Charlotte answered with more bravery. "But can we go somewhere where there are less prying eyes?"

Tom nodded and they walked to the Slytherin common room. When they reached the common room; there were few Slytherins there. Even so, the two parselmouths went into a corner to talk. "How are you parselmouth?" Tom asked Charlotte.

"I can't tell you that," she replied.

"Why not?"

"It's in my kin's rules," Charlotte told him nervously.

"Is there a loophole?" he shot back.

From her wince; there was one. "What is it?" he asked commandingly.

"Telling you that would give you too much power over me," Charlotte whispered.

"Tell me," he commanded in parseltongue.

Charlotte froze and went pale. "You just found it," she hissed in the same tongue, back.

(The rest of the conversation was in parseltongue.) "How does this give me power over you?" Tom asked.

"Because you are…" Charlotte looked uncertain, "I don't know how to explain…I know! Where I come from, it is sort of like a-a…court. Depending on your ancestry ranks on how much power you have over others. Since your ancestor is Salazar Slytherin you are in the direct line from the first Slytherin who went by just Slytherin. Since you're not of age yet, you would be like…like a crown prince. You can tell me what to do since I'm of lower ranking, unless my cousin defends me."

Tom listened with a terrifying interest, "What happens then and why?"

"Because," Charlotte whispered, growing paler still, "where I come from, the people of the female race are like possessions. Very much honored and protected, but still like objects. When we are born, our fathers own us, until they die or marry us off. If they die, our oldest brother owns us, but if we do not have a brother, our sister's husband. If we don't have any brothers or married siblings, than we are usually given to our closest relative. If we are married off, our husbands own us. But before we get married, we have to finish our schooling.

"Even though you do not 'own' me, you can still order me around, since I'm of lower rank. But if my cousin wanted to claim me again, and you," Charlotte looked faintly embarrassed, "umm, wanted to…_keep_…me, the two of you would duel over who owns me, to the death, at least, usually.

"But if you abuse this power over me, I can rebel and go into a state where I break free. It's very stressful, and painful, and difficult so I'd rather not do that.

"Remember not to tell anyone anything I've told you."

Tom nodded, smiling in a way that made Charlotte shiver, "I won't tell."

Ever since that day, Tom became very protective and commanding of Charlotte who continued to fascinate him. He constantly asked questions about Charlotte and her past life. Charlotte's respect and fear of Salazar Slytherin's heir grew, but she didn't know if she liked or hated him.

During the weekdays, Tom kept his eye on Charlotte, but kept his distance. While on the weekends, he was with her for almost the whole day. They spent the weekends together either at the library or outside, from five a.m. through ten p.m.

Winter break came and went giving their friends time to think about this adjustment. Tom's friends were surprised, but didn't comment, for fear of angering Tom. They accepted Charlotte and Tom's relationship, but were unnerved by it. Tom still sat with them at mealtimes, but was otherwise distracted.

Charlotte's friends had different reactions to Tom's attitude to Charlotte. Amelia and her friends were surprised and became a little more distant. Alice and her friends reacted the opposite way. When Tom kept on glancing at Charlotte in potions and then walked with her to the library, Alice and her friends ambushed Charlotte when she went into their room. "Did you see the way he was looking at you?" Mary squealed when Charlotte entered the room. "Who?" Charlotte asked coolly.

"Tom Riddle, of course!" answered Alice.

"You're so lucky," sighed Caroline. "He's like the perfect boy and has never been interested in anybody before."

Charlotte replied calmly, "My relationship is nothing like that with Tom Riddle."

"Yet," Alice giggled.

Charlotte remained silent.

**I know Tom Riddle is a bit OC. Sorry, but if you have ever read any of my other fan fictions, you will find that the characters are usually a bit OC.  
**_**Information from the author:**_** Tom Riddle, at this time, is not in love with Charlotte. She is not in love with Tom Riddle. I hope that that is clear. **

**This fan fiction does not end sadly. **

**Charlotte seems perfect at the moment, but, again, if you have read my other fan fictions, you should know that all my main characters start out that way, well, at least usually. **

**Please read and review! **

**In your review, ask questions about this chapter. The will be listed here, on this webpage. **

**Thank you,**

**Princess Mariana **


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Harry Potter. Read books and previous chapter(s) before reading this. Might contain Spoilers. **

"I really don't understand why, if you're to be treated as a possession, girls are schooled," Tom said outside in parseltongue.

Charlotte smiled slightly and explained in the same language. "We might be treated as objects," she explained, "but we can drastically change a situation of war. Each family tries to gain as much power, land, and money as possible. The men fight for it with wand, but we women fight with our brains. We can trick the man we belong to to give us information, which we can give to the opposing family.

"We are also used as peace offerings and we help influence the men we are offered to; like to give our first owners information from our second owners and things like that.

"We need to be trained in similar things. And we sometimes have to replace or guide our owners. Anyways, according to ancient tradition, we girls are not like 'muggle scum,' so we shall be more educated than them."

"What do you learn in this school?" Tom asked in parseltongue. (The rest of the conversation was in parseltongue.)

Charlotte answered, "We learn the history the world, muggle and magical. We learn all kinds of different spells. We learn the world of politic, how to act around different kinds of people, dancing, curtsying and bowing different ways, laws everywhere, dancing, embroidering, for girls. For boys: dueling, riding, and all kinds of different things. They especially focus on our ancient traditions. They stuff as much stuff as they can from age five to seventeen."

"Why were you pulled away from school?"

"Politics," Charlotte said; annoyance at her world evident, "politics, politics, politics, and _politics_. Did I mention politics?

"My family, or my cousin, since my parents are dead and I don't have the power or wish to do so, started it all. The idiotic git decided to try to claim one of my classmate's family's properties. My classmate had a certain interest in me and my stupid cousin, who thought that I might betray him or get kidnapped and be used against him, decided it would be safer for me to leave. I had to continue my education, so he sent me here. One day the git will come back for me and woe for Hogwarts when that day comes. He'll probably do something incredibly stupid. With my luck, he'll kill the headmaster for 'keeping' me."

Tom started to ask about the old tradition, especially the dueling. Charlotte felt something was going to happen and she was sure that Tom felt it too from judgment of his questions.

That night at exactly midnight, there was a roar that woke everyone in the castle. Everyone went to their common rooms tiredly. The Slytherins kept on asking each other what was going. Every, that is, besides Charlotte and Tom. Tom was looking at Charlotte in concern for she was pale and very quiet. She seemed to be making a decision.

Very quickly, the pale girl went back to her room. Tom decided to watch and wait. She never left her room, even as the castle shook violently. Everyone, besides Tom and Charlotte, huddled together in the center of the room, terrified.

Finally, Professor Slughorn came and told everyone to remain calm and follow him. They followed him to the Great Hall, but they didn't stay calm. Just as the group began to leave, Charlotte went back into the common room, in the school's uniform.

"What is going on?" Tom asked her softly in parseltongue.

She hissed back, "My cousin has come for me."

Tom nodded. She had confirmed his suspicions. When they reached the Great Hall, all the tables were gone and the whole school was their. There were sleeping bags everywhere, but no one was in them. All the teachers were trying to get everyone to remain calm, but they were failing horribly. In the midst of the chaos, Tom slipped away, pulling Charlotte along with him. The teachers wouldn't notice their disappearance for awhile and Tom took advantage.

Tom was heading to the grounds. Once there, they saw a man who seemed to be in his thirties. He had dark brown hair and yellow eyes. Cruelty ruined his handsomeness.

Tom stopped walking and told Charlotte to wait there. Then he continued walking. He hissed something to her cousin who nodded, smirking.

He walked over to Charlotte and hissed softly in parseltongue, "Sleep and thee shall awaken when thy master chooses." His voice was so calming, so soothing, so enchanting that she didn't even notice the words meant that a Tom was going to duel her cousin. Lost in his voice, she started losing consciousness. Tom caught her before she hit the floor. Carefully, he picked her up and walked back to the school. Her cousin followed them smugly.

Charlotte fought to stay awake and struggled even harder when Tom had picked her up. "Sleep, Charlotte," he murmured in parseltongue.

She stubbornly shook her head and continued to struggle with sleep. Then Charlotte made the mistake of looking up into his eyes. The female Slytherin fell into darkness.

When Charlotte awoke she was lying on a cold, stone floor. As she tried to sit up, weariness overwhelmed her. "I wouldn't try that again if I were you," a cool, amused voice said.

Charlotte saw Tom walking over her. Before she could respond, he scoped her up in his arms. "Set me down," she protested, but didn't have enough energy to put up a real fight. He smiled faintly and walked, carrying her with him, away. "Where are we going and where are we?" Charlotte weakly asked.

"We are in the Chamber of Secrets and we are going back to school," Tom replied calmly.

"What happened and what are you going to tell the teachers?"

Tom smiled smugly, "I challenged your cousin to a duel and won. And the story is that we were separated from our fellow Slytherins and ran into a madman. He jinxed you into, making you weak. He threw another one at you and we fought for sometime before he ran off. They will find him a few floors above us dead. They will think he killed himself."

Charlotte was in shock from the first answer that she barely registered the second answer. "You d-defeat-ted m-my c-cousin?" Charlotte stammered in a daze.

Tom nodded, very smug. Charlotte couldn't believe it, "I thought that it was impossible."

Tom smiled a little, "It was actually quite easy. He was so arrogant that I couldn't help but use it against him."

Charlotte shook her head in awe, "I can't believe you're taking this so lightly. You just killed the second most powerful wizard in my old community. You do realize that in doing that, you have ownership over me."

Tom smiled amusedly, "Why else do you think I did it? Life is dismal without you around and you are full of such information. You won't escape that easily."

Charlotte stared at him in bewilderment. He smiled again and remained quiet. Then, in a flash, Tom made his face look tired and told Charlotte in hushed tones, "Look pale and tired."

"It won't be that hard," Charlotte managed to answer back for she was almost asleep again.

"Tom! Tom!" a professor cried, "Are you all right? What happened?"

The rest of the professors came up behind the anxious professor. Tom told his story. Professor Dumbledore, the transfiguration teacher, said thoughtfully, "I think Miss Wonder should go to the hospital wing and you too, Tom."

Tom nodded and left the professors to go to the hospital wing as Charlotte fell asleep.

When Charlotte awoke, she was in a hospital wing cot. The next cot over, Tom was sitting on. Charlotte slowly sat up, aware of Tom's steady gaze on her. "Was that a dream, or did it really happen?" she asked.

"It happened," Tom coolly answered with some amusement.

"Oh," Charlotte said, getting more awake.

"You're supposed to stay here for another night." Tom said; his eyes still on her.

She nodded slowly, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Without thinking, she met his gaze and held it. They stared at each other for awhile until Charlotte had to look away. It now sunk in that he really was her new 'owner.'

Charlotte eyes filled with worry and curiosity as she asked, "Are you going to be as overprotective as my cousin."

Tom smiled with wicked humor, "No, I'll be more."

This broke through the tension and Charlotte glared at him. Tom laughed; actually laughed. Charlotte hadn't ever heard him really laugh. He had a pleasant laugh. It was cold, but not in a bad way. Charlotte smiled in response. She couldn't help it.

The next night, Tom stole out of the Slytherin common room and into the hospital wing. Charlotte was fast asleep. If Tom hadn't seen her breathing, he would've thought she was dead, she was so still. The fourteen year old was curled up in a ball and her hair was, like always, in a bun. Tom never could recall seeing her with her hair down. He didn't even know what length her hair was.

Tom didn't know why he was even there. The feeling of uneasiness of Charlotte staying here alone, unprotected, drove him to come.

"Tom," a lowered voice said out of the darkness.

Professor Dumbledore stood there, blue eyes twinkling. Tom looked at him in surprise. What was the old professor doing here? "I thought you'd be here," Professor Dumbledore said calmly, "You can sleep on the cot next to her."

Tom nodded, still in shock, an emotion that he rarely had. Dumbledore smiled at him and left. This was a strange night for Tom, but he didn't want to think about it. Sighing, he did as Dumbledore had instructed.

Charlotte woke in the hospital wing again, to find Tom watching her, again. She quickly sat up. Unlike the last time this had happened, she was wide awake. "You've been sleep for six days, you know," Tom coolly said with amusement.

"What!" Charlotte cried, alarmed.

Tom smiled innocently at her, "I thought you might need it, considering the excitement from last week."

She glared at him, "I must've missed so much school work. I'll never catch up!"

"You already know everything. If you haven't noticed, Hogwarts is one tenth of what you learned in a year at your old school."

Charlotte gritted her teeth, "But the teachers don't know that. If I finish all the school work in thirty minutes, they'll think I cheated or something."

"You'll survive."

And survive Charlotte did. After Tom's duel, he took full responsibility over Charlotte. If any so much as insulted her, they would face Tom's wrath. And no one, _no one_ dared to anger Tom.

Tom now went everywhere with Charlotte. Since they had all the same classes, this was pretty easy. At mealtimes, Charlotte now sat with Tom and his group, who attempted to accept her to please Tom, but just about failed.

Amelia and her group, who admired Tom, even though he was a Slytherin, respected the change, but were afraid to be around Tom, so they kept their distance from Charlotte. Charlotte's roommates were amazed and a little envious of Charlotte. They also were a bit nervous around Tom and kept their distance, like Amelia and her friends. Charlotte noticed all this with some sadness, since she had started to like her new friends, but wasn't too close to them, so it didn't hurt too much.

**What do you think of it? At the moment, Tom is **_**not**_** in love with her. He's just a little over possessive, if you haven't noticed. I mean, he killed her cousin! If a guy killed **_**my**_** cousin over me, I'd think that he was mental. But I don't come from Charlotte's world so don't ask me! **

**If you have any questions, put them in a review. I will answer them on this page. **

**Thank you,**

**Princess Mariana **


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Harry Potter. May contain spoilers. Read previous chapters and Harry Potter books before this. I hate disclaimers. They are so long. **

One day in early February, Professor Dumbledore announced to the whole school, when Professor Dippet was away, that the headmaster's birthday was in a month and as a seventy birthday present from the school, they were going to do a play on Professor Dippet's favorite story: _Good's Fiancé: Evil._ Dumbledore said that tryouts would be held the next day.

"Are you going to do it?" Charlotte asked Tom.

"Probably. What about you?"

"If you do it, I will," Charlotte answered Tom's question.

"Then I will," Tom replied.

The two practiced different parts of the play to get ready for the tryouts. The next day, the school was very excited. Tom and Charlotte didn't care what part they got, but everyone else wanted to be the main parts: Melina and Coro.

Three professors were the judges as each person did a part of the play, one at a time. The first years stammered a lot and one second year fainted from stage fright. Most of the students forgot their line. A few seventh years broke out laughing.

Finally, everyone interested had preformed and the judges were deciding the parts. "What part do you want?" Tom asked Charlotte.

"One of the peasants because it looked like fun pretending to weep at the feet of the main characters."

Charlotte was about to ask him what he wanted to be, but the judges had just finished deciding. When they called a name and the part out, the called person went over to them, received their lines, and left. They started with the lesser parts which were given to mostly first and second years.

After awhile, Charlotte began to fear that she hadn't gotten in. Finally, when almost everyone had gotten their parts and left, one of the judges said, "The rest of you are animals. You will be told what to do in practice."

Charlotte and Tom were about to turned to leave with the rest of the students when a judge, Professor Dumbledore, came over to them. "May I have a word?" he asked the two fourth years.

They nodded and followed him. The old man led them to the other judges. Professor Slughorn, one of the judges, rubbed his hands together, looking excited, "You two are our secret weapons."

Professor Binns, the ancient history teacher, explained, "We want it to be a surprise to everyone, who the main characters, Melina and Coro, are. That's why we didn't announce it just now. At the practices, we'll put spells on you two so you won't be recognized."

Charlotte looked surprised, "You're saying that we're Melina and Coro?"

Professor Slughorn nodded enthusiastically and Dumbledore spoke up, "We decided that this will not get in the way of school as much as it would to someone else, since you are our top students. You two also acted very well."

Charlotte was still astonished as Tom towed her away. Then, in the library, she began to worry. "Everyday you seem to loosen up more since the day you came," Tom commented flipping through an old book about complex charms.

Charlotte stopped fretting for a second to ask, "What do you mean?"

"When you first came," Tom replied, looking up, "you didn't show any emotion at all. Now, you express your emotion as easily as breathing."

Charlotte blushed, "I was trained to show more emotion than I actually have. The boys, of course were trained to do the opposite. In a silent protest, I hid my emotions and now, since I'm not fighting anything, they leak threw my ancient wall."

"Then it's a good thing that Melina is a very emotional person," said Tom with a faint smile.

"And a good thing that Coro acts like a heartless, unemotional person," Charlotte said, and her worry vanished without her noticing.

After a month of practicing, the cast was ready for Dippet's birthday party, but none of the students knew who acted out Melina and Coro. Nobody recognized the two during rehearsal, and wild rumors were being spread. Charlotte laughed at them inwardly, but she didn't know Tom's view on them.

Finally, the headmaster's birthday came. Professor Dumbledore kept Professor Dippet away from the Great Hall so the school could set up. At exactly five o'clock p.m., Dumbledore lured Professor Dippet into the Great Hall. In the Great Hall, a stage with a bright red curtain to cover where the actors were stationed, ready for action. The rest of the students sat in bleachers. Dumbledore led the surprised Dippet to a big, wooden chair in front of the stage. The red curtain parted and the play began.

Charlotte stood there in a stunning, dark blue, long sleeved, to the floor dress. Her hair was in a tight bun, like usual. She held a basket full of freshly picked lilies. An 'old woman' in a brown dress walked over to her and pointed an accusing finger at Charlotte. "Witch!" the woman cried, "She's a witch!"

People gathered round, all in peasants wear. 'Dogs' and 'cats', students in costumes, formed a ring around Charlotte, growling and spitting. She cringed and one of the 'men' grabbed her arm. She automatically took out her wand and waved it. She vanished and the 'peasants' gasped. The curtain closed for a few seconds.

When the curtain parted, Charlotte was huddled in a room, shaking. A knock sounded. Charlotte flinched and a 'man' in black walked in. "Ma'am, I want you to come with me," he said.

She shook her head, trembling. Gently, he said, "I don't want to use force, but if I have to, I shall. I repeat, I want you to come with me. My master wants me to take you to his home to live with him. 'Tis in your best interest to obey his command."

She shook her head, and stood up, wand in hand. The man in black sighed and took out his own wand, disarmed her, and swung the struggling Charlotte over his shoulder. She remained silent, but still struggled. The curtain closed.

The next five scenes were of Charlotte and the 'man' in black traveling; Charlotte being forced by the man.

Finally the two reached a stony castle. When they entered the castle, the 'man' bowed and left Charlotte in a bleak room. Tom stepped out of the shadows, looking charming in black robes. Charlotte froze and Tom began circling her. Charlotte, for the part, started looking discomforted. "What is your name?" Tom said in a cold, commanding voice when he was done circling.

Charlotte shook her head, looking worried.

"I will find out," Tom said in the same cold voice.

Charlotte shook her head again. Tom smiled, a cruel smile, as he answered, "We'll see about that." The curtain closed again.

The next scene was of Charlotte being led away by a maid, in black, of course, to a small, room with a bed and wardrobe. The maid, who was actually a seventh year Hufflepuff, told her without emotion, "This will be your room. You will change into something from this," she waved at the wardrobe, "or be exposed to the Master's temper. Which," the maid shivered, "is not very pleasant, even if you're special."

Charlotte nodded mutely and the maid left. Hesitating, she went over to the closet and the curtain closed.

The next scene, Tom asked Charlotte, who was wearing a long black dress, what her name was. The curtain was drawn and opened again, and the scene was played again. This happened two more times. Finally, when the curtain parted again, Tom asked, still with no emotion, "Why won't you tell me?"

A faint smile played at her lips and she waved her right hand as if holding a wand. She then pointed her invisible wand at herself. A spark of curiosity flickered and vanished in his eye as he said, "You were put under a spell."

She nodded and then pretended to talk. Then she made a slashing motion across her throat with her hand. Tom nodded, "I see. Do you know what to do to have your speech returned?"

Charlotte nodded vigorously. Tom nodded again, took out her wand and his, and tossed hers to her. Closing her eyes, she pointed her wand at her throat. There was a flash of blue light and Charlotte smiled. Hesitantly, she handed her wand back to Tom. "What is your name?" Tom asked again.

"Melina," she said in a clear voice. "What is yours?"  
"Coro."  
"Why are you imprisoning me here?"

"Because," 'Coro' answered coolly, "you and I are the last of the pure blood line. I wish to make you my wife so the line continues to stay pure."

'Melina' stared at 'Coro' in 'shock'. But the girl covered her 'surprise' up quickly, saying, "You are the first to say that. The rest of them wanted to end the line. I am sorry but I must decline. You might think you can force me into this, but you can not."

Tom smiled wickedly, "We will get married in year no matter what." The curtain closed. For the next ten scenes, Tom 'courted' Charlotte. Charlotte acted gloomy and Tom seemed to soften.

After the ten scenes, Tom and Charlotte were slowly 'falling in love,' when a 'wizard hater,' who was actually a fifth year Slytherin, 'kidnapped' Charlotte to 'lure' Tom into a trap. Charlotte 'escaped' in the next three scenes and in the next five scenes, met up with Tom who was trying to 'rescue' her. They then went back to his castle and got married, and pretended to have children, who had children, who had children; that symbolized that they had continued the pure blood line successfully. All the villagers that had tormented Melina begged for mercy and received some from Melina, but not Coro.

By the end of the play, Professor Dippet had tears in his eyes. The cast came out and bowed to the audience. A group came out, bowed, and then stepped back for the next group. They did this in this order: the peasants, the animals, the 'maid' and 'man' in black,' the 'wizard hater' and his 'evil minions', Tom and Charlotte's 'children', then, finally, Tom, in black robes and Charlotte, wearing the wedding dress she had worn at her 'wedding'.

There was a lot of applauding when Tom and Charlotte appeared. The two stepped back to let Professor Dumbledore go in front of them and announce, "Happy seventieth birthday to Professor Dippet," loads of applause. Dumbledore waited until it quieted before continuing, "to which this play was dedicated to. And, unknown to any of the cast and Professor Dippet, but known to everyone else, we will be having a ball in honor of our headmaster and actors and actresses." Dumbledore waved his wand and made the illusion charm on the audience vanish.

To the cast's astonishment, everyone in the audience, including Dippet, was in dress robes or dresses, depending on gender. "Actors and actresses," Slughorn boomed from the audience, "stay in you costumes. And I think Tom and Charlotte should have the first dance."

Charlotte was still in shock, but Tom had recovered in a moment. Turning to Charlotte, he asked her, "Will you?"

Charlotte put aside her surprise and dryly asked, "Do I have a choice?"

Tom smiled, "No, but I thought it would be polite to ask." He took her hand and led her to the center of the room; the teachers had made the stage and bleachers disappear, and a refreshment table and tables with white tablecloths and chairs around them, appeared. The center of the room seemed to be the dance floor, since there were no tables there.

"Do you even know how to dance?" she asked Tom.

He pretended to be offended, "Of course I do! It is a simple concept and even though you think we learn nothing here, we are actually well educated."

"You were taught how to dance?" Charlotte said in disbelief.

"No, but it is quite simple. I don't just study spells, I study everything…I suppose with you medieval training, you know how."

To his surprise she laughed. He had never heard her laugh before and he thought it to be a beautiful sound. It was cold, but, somehow, in a warm way.

When the music started, they danced and both of them danced quite well. They looked good together; Tom in his black robes; Charlotte in her long, white, dress and crown of white roses on her head. When the song ended, Charlotte practically ran to one of the tables. She shivered when she sat down. "Are you alright?" Tom asked. She nodded, "I was just remembering the last time I dance with someone." She shivered again.

"That bad?"

She nodded. There was a pause until a seventh year Ravenclaw went up to them and, ignoring Tom, said to Charlotte, "Do you want to dance?"

With one glance at the tense Tom, Charlotte replied calmly, "No, thank you."

The Ravenclaw nodded and departed. This happened with a few other students. When a sixth year Slytherin was rejected, cold fury flooded through him. The angered Slytherin glared at her as Tom shot him a glare of his own. If looks could kill, the older Slytherin would have had a very quick death.

"I wonder why they keep asking me," Charlotte commented.

Tom laughed, "Because your costume makes you look stunning."

Charlotte blushed and they sat in silence for awhile before a whispered "Crucio," a flash of blue light, and a scream. The flash of blue light came from an unknown source and the spell of torture from someone behind. Charlotte could've sworn that she saw Tom tuck away his wand, but she wasn't sure.

Meanwhile, the screaming continued. Charlotte turned in horror to see a girl with brown pigtails and a light blue dress, writhing on the ground in pain. It lasted for about five second, but felt like eternity. By the time it was done, the teachers had rushed through the crowd, towards the tortured girl. Charlotte had tears in her eyes and was trying hard not to tremble.

Everyone at once began to panic. There was screaming and students running, trying to get out. The professors tried to regain control but failed. Prefects tried to help the teachers, and failed just as badly. Tom grabbed Charlotte hand and pulled her through the havoc. Once out of the Great Hall, Tom looked her in the eye, saying, "Are you alright?"

She mutely nodded, still trying not to fall apart, "It was meant for me, wasn't it?" Somehow she didn't stammer.

Tom replied calmly, "The spell used to make it back fire is illegal, just as the spell for you was. Now, let's go to back to the common room and get some sleep. You don't look well."

She nodded, again.

**Oh, isn't he just marvelous?! He broke the law for her! Of course he is also a big fat (okay maybe not fat, but I have to insult this guy) meany-head! He tortured another poor girl (who probably deserved it, but that's no the point.) **

**Like my play? I **_**loved **_**it, though it was really dorky. Aw well, I've written worse, and I'm not just saying that. Once, when I was little, I wrote a fan fiction about a girl who seemed to know everything! She could read minds and was smarter and wiser than Dumbledore! That story didn't go very far. **

**If you have comments and/or questions, put them in a review. I love reviews! **

**Thank you,**

**Princess Mariana **


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